What a gloriously silly event Groundhog Day is, when a nation turns its eye upon the predictive power of a large rodent seeing, or not seeing, his shadow. It is completely ridiculous and long may we be a country that has time for the innocently ridiculous every now and then!
The earliest recorded reference to Groundhog Day was in the February 4, 1841 entry in his diary by James Morris of Morgantown, Philadelphia.
Last Tuesday, the 2nd, was Candlemas day, the day on which, according to the Germans, the Groundhog peeps out of his winter quarters and if he sees his shadow he pops back for another six weeks nap, but if the day be cloudy he remains out, as the weather is to be moderate.
Large scale celebrations of the day in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania go back to 1886. Long may they continue!
The groundhog will pop back in his hole just to stay warm!
We do not have Groundhog Day in Scotland (no groundhogs), but we do have a little verse, current in my part of the country
If Candlemas day be dry and fair,
The half o’ winter ‘s to come and mair,
If Candlemas day be wet and foul,
The half of winter’s gane at Yule.
If Candlemas Day is bright and clear,
There’ll be twa winters in the year.
Candlemas is one of the Scottish term days (the equivalent of the English quarter days), on which rents and any unexinguished feu-duties are paid, the others being Whitsun, Lammas and Martinmas.
Groundhog Day is indeed a silly observance. It is frequently used as an excuse by area college students to imbibe to excess. Punxsutawney is about 100 miles from Pittsburgh and it gets lots of attention here.
On a more serious note, today is my late father’s birthday, He has been gone for almost 21 years and I am approaching the age he was when he died. Fortunately for me, I’m in a lot better shape.
Today is the Solemnity of the Purification of Mary, also the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple and Candlemas. The Gospel passage from St. Luke tells us today of the great joy of Simeon, who asked God not to take him until he had seen the Messiah. Simeon foretells the trials Jesus and Mary must go through in the future. We also hear of the old widow Anna, who worshiped at the Temple day and night, fasting.
Today is the 40th day after Christmas Day, the end of Christmastide and the end of the Gospel passages about the infancy of Jesus. Certain Catholic majority countries observe Christmas (certainly not the USA) in some sense until this day.
Just as Simeon announces that God can dismiss him (the Nunc Dimittis –
Now dismiss Thy servant, O Lord,
In peace, according to Thy word:
For mine own eyes hath seen Thy salvation,
Which Thou hast prepared in the sight of all the peoples,
A light to reveal Thee to the nations
And the glory of Thy people Israel.), we see that all things, seasons, chapters in our lives, and even our lives themselves come to an end.
I feel a little sadness on this day. I miss my dad. I’m 51 and I have seen most of the Christmases I will see in my life. Septuagesima, the pre Lenten season that was done away with in the calendar of the Paul VI missal, has begun, overlapping Candlemas as it often does. We are nearly at the halfway point of winter according to the calendar. Of course, those of us in the North know that spring comes and winter goes when winter damn well feels like going and not one minute before.
Today, I will light the blessed candles in the Advent wreath, pray with my boys, and then put away the Nativity set that has been displayed since advent and say goodbye to the Baby Jesus for another year. As usual, I post a poem and carol, from the St. John Cantius website, called “ceremony upon Candlemas Eve” and “I Am Christmas”, which speak of the end of the season and the coming of Lent.
In any case, when Candlemas is finished, all feelings of Christmas give way to the penitential feelings of Septuagesima and then Lent. The English poet, Robert Herrick (A.D. 1591-1674), sums it up in his poem “Ceremony Upon Candlemas Eve”—and reveals a folktale in the process:
Ceremony Upon Candlemas Eve
Down with the rosemary, and so
Down with the bays and misletoe ;
Down with the holly, ivy, all,
Wherewith ye dress’d the Christmas Hall :
That so the superstitious find
No one least branch there left behind :
For look, how many leaves there be
Neglected, there (maids, trust to me)
So many goblins you shall see.
This very ancient carol also speaks of the departure of Christmas on this day. It is called “I Am Christmas,” and was written by James Ryman, a Franciscan Friar, ca. 1492. Note that the reference to Hallowtide (the days of the dead centering around All Saints Day) here refers to the fact that it was during Hallowtide that monarchs used to announce where they would be spending Christmas.
I Am Christmas
Here have I dwelled with more or lass
From Hallowtide till Candelmas,
And now must I from you hens pass;
Now have good day.
I take my leve of king and knight,
And erl, baron, and lady bright;
To wilderness I must me dight;
Now have good day!
And at the good lord of this hall
I take my leve, and of gestes all;
Me think I here Lent doth call;
Now have good day!
And at every worthy officere,
Marshall, panter, and butlere
I take my leve as for this yere;
Now have good day!
Another yere I trust I shall
Make mery in this hall,
If rest and peace in England fall;
Now have good day!
But oftentimes I have herd say
That he is loth to part away
That often biddeth ‘Have good day!”;
Now have good day!
Now fare ye well, all in fere,
Now fare ye well for all this yere;
Yet for my sake make ye good chere;
Now have good day!
Fish fries are coming, a big event in the Pittsburgh area. When my son John was younger, he called them “Jesus Christ Restaraunt”.
“On a more serious note, today is my late father’s birthday, He has been gone for almost 21 years and I am approaching the age he was when he died. Fortunately for me, I’m in a lot better shape.”
My Dad died 23 years ago this month PF. I daresay that he was in better shape than I am, except that he smoked and was a social drinker, two habits I have never acquired. He died just short of his 58th birthday and I turn 58 this Friday. Such a milestone is definitely a cause for reflection.
Such a milestone is definitely a cause for reflection.
—
I’ve got a year to go, myself re that milestone. Haven’t touched the liquor or tobacco he was fond of in 20-odd years (though I’m told social drinking is not harmful). My father offered at age 48 some satisfaction that he’d gotten through the previous eight years without any notable health problems at a time in life when his father had been chronically ill with one thing and then another. Less energetic than pa in every respect and remembering every man in my paternal-line pedigree back to the colonial period died of something different but (bar one) in the same age range, so I’m curious what’s after me. (My brother is busting the curve, of course. Older brothers are always out to get you).
If only men dressed as savantly for Mass. My computer has been down since last Thursday. Operating Systems twice. Lost 4 pounds and counting. I gave up crying wailing and the like.
In the meantime, I wrote a piece about Carl Rogers’ “ON Becoming a Person” since my children were subjected to it in Catholic school, fifth grade, and how Carl Rogers impacted HOPE and CHANGE. The machine ate it (and got indigestion).
My time at the library is up.
Prayers.